


Movie Night

by ImperiusRex



Category: Invaders (Marvel), Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Namor the Sub-Mariner (Comics)
Genre: Candy, Family, Flashbacks, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Kinda, Light Angst, Movie Night, Popcorn, The Invaders, family movie night, invadersfanworksfest, movies - Freeform, there's some jimor there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-03 23:57:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20461652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImperiusRex/pseuds/ImperiusRex
Summary: Namor reminiscences about the past, recalling a movie night he spent with his team, the Invaders, during WWll.[This fic was created for the 2019 summer Invaders Fanworks Fest]





	Movie Night

**Author's Note:**

> Set just after Invaders 2019 #2

“What is this place my King?”

Machan peers curiously at the old large building, noting the sign that said Imperial Pictures Cinema with the list of movies that was playing. This old movie theater had been a cornerstone of the small town for decades. Namor had been here once many years ago; Nay and Randall’s idea to take the whole family out for a night. Roman was about five years old, they watched some singing and dancing animals for an hour and half. The theater played old movies like, the rocky horror picture show, black and white classics, and a few children’s cartoons which were always on the late night roster, the newer movies were switched out on a regular basis. Namor was apprehensive, he didn’t much like theaters, the last one he had been to alone in New York… he had been chased out of it when the people sitting next to him recognized his ankle wings. The trench coat Namor had worn as a disguise wasn’t long enough to cover his bare feet.

“A movie theater, humans show plays on it.”

“Live entertainment? Singers? Dancers?”

“Not exactly, it was live once, but it’s recorded and replayed for the crowd.”

It was still open, no matter that it was nearing 1 am. Namor’s shirt, black with gold trim, was enough to not cause a scene than if he had been without one. He moves a few pieces of his long hair to cover his pointed ears and keeps his eyes cast down so as to not frighten the ticket girl with his black sclera; she sat in her box playing on her phone while waiting for the night owls who decided to visit.

“Two tickets. For Snow White.”

She gives him a quick glance, and looks around as if she was expecting another person, but shrugs and says, “Twelve dollars. Night special.”

Namor fumbles with the green paper money, though he kept a small thin water proof wallet for occasions where he had to deal with surface transactions the waterproofing wasn’t enough and the bills were slightly damp with sea water.

She doesn’t even bother to show that it affects her, likely she had seen much stranger thing this late at night, and hands him the tickets before going back to her phone. She didn’t comment on Machan’s presence either, which made his skin prickle with a sense of something _wrong_, a man with blue skin would at least get the odd comment… wouldn’t he? Perhaps she simply didn’t care. Namor walks in, the cool air-conditioning is an improvement on the sultry summer heat outside. There was another teen at the candy counter. He looks just as bored as the girl outside.

“We have a special on popcorn, get a large and your drink is free.”

He opens his mouth to ask for two, one for him and Machan, but he stops, when had Namor ever seen Machan eat? Something small like that… it was unsettling but no sooner than he thought about it, the idea seemed to slip away behind a curtain of fog and Namor realized he must have been standing there staring off into space for a few moments.

“No… just that.”

Namor points to a bag of candy in the glass case, skittles, he was given some once by one of the air breathing mutant students on Utopia. They had been shocked to hear that Namor had never had any. He liked the little ‘s’ that was printed on each piece. The boy says his total and Namor slaps down more soggy bills, the teen mutters something about _“why do I always get the druggies”_ as he picked up the bills. Likely he thought Namor inebriated, Namor ignored that as he walked off to locate the right theater ( number 8) that was playing the movie. He slips into one of the seats in the highest row, so that no one could walk up on him, his back to the wall. The theater was empty, and he was alone. Namor tears the bag open and quietly sifts through it until he finds the red ones. He takes several into his mouth and chews slowly. Machan appears in the seat next to him… _no he was always there wasn’t he?_ _He simply sat down when Namor wasn’t looking._

“Sir, we spent all the time after meeting with Nay Peterson wandering the town, why did we not go back to Atlantis? We have much to do there. Why not take my advice and dispose of the Petersons? You know-“

Namor swallows the candy down before interrupting his advisor in a harsh tone.

“**Stop**.”

Machan falls silent, his eyes glitter with a strange light and the aching in Namor’s head increases, he pinches the bridge of his nose and squeezes his eyes tight to try and push past the pain.

“Machan… my friend, I need time to clear my head. Time to think… it’s so hard to _think_ these days.”

It was getting harder to remember simple things. He didn’t like that, Namor felt like his control was slipping and every time he slept he worried he would wake up in a cold dark alley, a homeless reject from society, and that all these last years, being a lost prince of an undersea nation, his friends… was nothing but a dream. The theater lights dimmed, and the screen turned on, there were a few advertisements, Namor concentrates on watching a drinking cup that had big animated eyes as it urged people to buy it from the concession stand, then it began to dance with an animated bag of popcorn.

Popcorn. That was a snack that had boomed during the war, when sugar was a scare commodity, and candy could no longer be made easily. Many things had to change, sugar was rationed for the war effort and the sale of popcorn soared. Namor remembers its salty buttery taste.

_“Hey Subby! Don’t hog it all!” _

_Bucky snatches the paper bag out of Namor’s hands from behind where he and Toro sat. Both teens dig in, stuffing their faces. Namor growled, turning to snatch it back but there is a hand on his arm holding him back in his seat. _

_“I got extra and it’s not like I need to eat water bug.” _

_The Torch’s smile is soft and amused as Namor glances down at Jim’s offering. He makes a slight harrumph sound in his throat and settles back in, taking the bag and glaring over his shoulder at the teens lest they get any more ideas about stealing food from the Prince of Atlantis. Steve settles in next to Namor’s left side, and looks around._

_“Where are Jackie, Roger, and Brian?”_

_Jim hikes a thumb back over his shoulder, “Brian and Roger are in the back, said they wanted some privacy, whatever that means, and Jackie decided to stay home, a quiet night with her father, she doesn’t get much of those anymore… I think she’s worried he might not make it to the end of the year.”_

_Steve nods, he glances at Namor who was munching loudly on a mouthful of popcorn and tries to reach for some but Namor expertly moves it out of his reach, “Those brats already took my bag, I’m not sharing.”_

_“You’ll fight Nazis with me but won’t share some popcorn?!”_

_“Pipe down in front, movies starting!”_

_ Toro says in a loud voice, and Jim shakes his head, Steve grins, and Namor stuffs his face with more of the popcorn. He decides he likes it. The strange texture plays on his tongue as the lights dimmed. Namor hadn’t wanted to come, he would rather have spent their one day of rest, swimming in the English Channel, but Bucky and Toro were not permitted in the theater without an adult since the ones who rated the movies had decided that it was simply too violent for young ones, never mind that the teens had seen more horror in war. So it became a thing, Jim was roped in first, then Steve and then both men practically dragged Namor along and he only came to observe these strange surface customs of “family bonding” as Jim put it. _

_They weren’t a family, Namor pointed out and Jim had sighed and then shoved a coat at Namor and threw him a hat for his ears. They were all wearing civilian clothing, even Namor though he drew the line at shoes; he hated them, hated how they confined his ankle wings._

_The movie opens with a book, and music, Namor reads the story that unfolds, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, each page flipped on its own until it faded and something he had never seen before played out before his eyes painted people danced across the screen, a young woman who sang in a voice that echoed like the sirens of the sea, a prince who would woo her, an evil witch who would see her destroyed utterly for simply daring to be born. His throat closes up, it hits too close to home, and he see the same madness of his grandfather in the evil queens eyes as she demanded snow white’s heart from her huntsman. His right hand grips the arm of the seat when he watches the huntsman raise his knife over the young princess, and another hand covers the back of it, it’s warm and it causes Namor to glance down with a slightly raised eyebrow. Jim doesn’t move his hand as his eyes are focused on the movie and Namor’s first instinct is to snap at the Torch, but after a slight hesitation decides not to… he likes Jim holding his hand more than he thought he would and it had distracted him from the huntsman. The princess had survived her ordeal, the huntsman couldn’t bear to slay her , and so she ran off into the woods. _

_Toro watches the movie with rapt attention and Bucky flicks a few pieces of popcorn at him, he had already seen the movie with his own family back when it had first aired in the states. Steve gets hit by one of the pieces of popcorn when Toro dodges it, and gives Bucky a reprimanding look, Bucky sinks into his seat sheepishly as Toro smirks and takes another handful of popcorn. This would be the last time that they would experience the light heartedness of companionship, before the war revved back up and they were deployed beyond enemy lines. Namor does not know this now, but decades in the future he will sit in an old theater that very much resembled this one, alone, friendless, and watch the same movie that hadn’t aged a day, where the princess would sing with her woodland friends and her protectors would warn her of the witch before going on their merry way to dig diamonds out of caves, and where Snow White’s good heart would be her undoing as she welcomed a stranger into her house. Namor does not know this yet, but this moment, where he turns his hand so that his fingers intertwine with Jims, would be one of the last few happy moments he would know for many years._

_Steve is drawn to the animation style and Namor can see the captains’ fingers twitching as though he wished he had a pad and pencil to try sketching a few of the scenes, Toro finished the popcorn and eyed Namor’s, Bucky enjoys the movie and cheers when the witch is crushed by a rock, somewhere in the back Brian yells at Bucky to pipe down cause ‘some of them were here to watch a movie, not listen to his yelling’. Bucky gives him the swift finger, and Steve says his name in a warning tone and Barnes shrugs before sitting down. The other movie goers weren’t happy about the noise but then no one cared when they saw the happy ending, and then as Snow White rode off with her Prince Charming a happy burst of babbling voices filled the air, and Jim leans in close, concealed by the darkness and the inattention of the others, whispering in Namor’s pointed ear, “Told ya it wouldn’t be so bad Subby.”_

_Namor slips his hand out of Jims and says stiffly back “I endured, and the brats got their show, now I need a swim so let’s leave this place.” _

_Jim’s smile falters when Namor removed his hand, but the mask is back on and he acts like he wasn’t disappointed. Namor breathes a bit easier, and grabs the remainder of his paper popcorn bag before Toro could swoop it up, and follows Steve out of the row of seats, they met up with Brian and Roger in the lobby, Roger’s lips seemed a bit swollen and with a single sniff Namor knows the two men had been sitting far too close. He rolls his eyes, when Brian catches Namor staring and gives him a wink. They walk out and Toro is happily explaining who each member of the Invaders were compared to the Seven Dwarfs, Steve was Doc, Jim was Happy, Namor got grumpy and he wasn’t impressed._

_Hey I’m not Dopey! If anything you’re dopey!” _

_“I’m just matching the attitudes Buck, and you’re pretty dopey.” Toro laughs as he dodges a punch to the shoulder. _

_Namor gives Jim a look as he adjusts his hat before stepping out of the theater onto the London sidewalk to stand by the Torch, “I believe next time I may pass on the “family bonding time”._

_Jim rolls his eyes as he holds the door for Brian and roger who walk side by side, following Steve, Bucky, and Toro, “You enjoyed it.”_

_“Tch.”_

_Jim lets the door fall closed as then fell into step behind the rest of the group and Namor walks alongside him, hands shoving in his trench coat pockets. The night air brings in the smell of water and Namor thinks he’ll stop for a swim before retiring._

_“Well then maybe I can get you to come to another one if I promise there will be popcorn?”_

_“Are you attempting to bribe a Prince?”_

_Jim grins as they pass a streetlamp that makes his golden hair glow, ‘Is it working?”_

“Is it working?”

Namor snaps out of his memory.

The theater was dark. Machan looks up at where the light from the projection should be.

“I think it may have gone out my King.”

Namor touches his face, and his finger tips hold a few drops of tears, when had he started crying?

“My king?”

Machan’s eyes are on him. And Namor shifts uncomfortably. The teen from the candy counter comes in and calls out an equipment malfunction, saying that refunds are at the front. There was only Namor there, alone. Where had Machan gone? Where was Tommy? And the rest of the Invaders? Where had they gone? His head hurts so much and he squeezed his skull, trying hard to think, just think clearly for one moment! His candy falls to the floor in a shower of rainbow pieces and his tears fall more freely now, over the years, the pain in his head was a constant but lately it hurt so much, like a knife being driven into his brain, searing him. The flash of Professor Xavier’s face and then Tommy… no Machan.

“My King. I am here…”

Machan’s hand on the back of his head, stroking his hair, and Namor relaxes a bit. He was here. The Invaders were in the past, that’s where they belonged. Now was a time of change and Namor shouldn’t be sitting around some old theater thinking of the good old days, not when there was work to do. Namor lets out a long breath.

“Let’s go… there is much to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs first came out in England it was under a partial ban where kids under the age of 16 weren't allowed to watch it unaccompanied, when I found that out I knew I had to write a fic about Toro and Bucky dragging the team to watch it. Also during world war 2, sugar was rationed, which led to less candy being produced for theaters, which led to the rise in popcorn sales and eventually popcorn replacing candy as the main theater snack. My chosen prompt for this fic was: Candy.
> 
> Comments and Kudos are appreciated!


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